Improvement in self-loading fire-arms



' Patented Jan. I7, 1865 inve Mots G. M SPENCER..

Magazixle Fire-Arm against all danger of explosion.

UNITEDv STATES PATENT OEEICE CHRISTOPHER M. SPENCER, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SPENCER REPEATING RIFLE COMPANY, OF SAMEPLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 15.952, dated January17, 1865.

To all whom fit may concern: f Be it known that 1, CHRISTOPHER SPENCER,of the city of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and Iinlstock and receiver, showing the magazine in place and in itsrelation to the breech mechanism. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of therear portion of the inner tube of the magazine, showing thelocking-plate and groove. Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofthe rear' endof the stock, showing the hole in which the inner tube of the magazineis introduced and the arrangement for locking` it in place wheninserted. Fig. 4 is a perspective view ofthe forward end of the innertube of the maga zine.

The same part is marked by the same letter wh ercver it occurs.

The nature of my invention consists in the use, in the stock of arepeating fire-arm, of a magazine for fulminating cartridges, andalso'in improvements in the construction of the magazine, the mode ofthe insertion and locking of its inner tube, its attachments, its

operation, and the peculiar construction and operation of its plug orplunger P, all as hereinafter more particularly set forth.

The great desideratum ina repeating n'rearm has been so to locate themagazine that the reserve cartridges should be protected This end isaccomplished in the construction of my magazine, hereindescribed, in aneffectual manner. The cartridges have a double sheathing of metalstrongly incased in wood, presenting as formidable a'n obstacle againstexternal force yas does the barrel itself. to be even less liable topremature explosion They are believed from accidental causes than is thesingle paper ycartridge in the chamber of an ordinary gun, although thefulminating or exploding cartridges which I'use are more liable toaccidental explosion than such paper cartridges.

To enable others skilled in the art to make j and use my improvedmagazine, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation,referring to the drawings, on which- A marks the stock of the gun; B,the receiver, or that portion of the frame in which the breech operates,C, the compound breech, constructed after the manner described in thespecification of my patent of the 29th of July, 1862, (reissued April12, 1864.) D marks the outer tube of the compound magazine, which has ascrew-thread, a, at its forward end and a similar thread, b, at its rearend. This tube, which I prefer to make of brass, passes longitudinallythrough the stock, as shown in Fig. 1, but is not inserted on thecentral line of the stock, but on a line slightly inclined to the left,and enters the receiver on that side, so as to leave ample room on theright ot' its forward end for the insertion'of the lock of the piece.

The forward end of tube D is screwed into the rear end of the receiver,and its rear end receives a nut, E, which, screwing down upon a shoulderin a recess made in the rear end of the stock, makes the tube D serve asa very efticientmeans of strengthening the stock, and also of securingit flrmly to the breech portion of the gun.

The forward end of tube D opens into a recess. in the piece C of thebreech, against which the points of the cartridges Cr Gin successionrest on their way to the chamber of the gun;

F marks the inner tube of the magazine, which is made of steel, and ofsuch size as to slip easily into the outer tube, D. The forward and openend of this tube F is beveled or charnfered on its inner side, in themanner shown in Fig. 4 in view and in section in Fig. 1. A long slot,7c, is cutin the sideof this tube, into which a pin or button from theplug P projects, by means of which the plug can be retracted and heldback at pleasure.

The plug P is impelled forward by the force of the spiral spring S,whose fixed end is attached in the rear or closed end of tube F. Thistube has on its rear end a cap, G, which has an arm, H, which serves, inconnection with other devices, as a means of locking the tube to thestock when in place. v

A portion of the cap Cr (not shown in the drawings) is cut away to allowit to pass the 'inserted before the arm His turned to lock the tube inplace.

A channel, c, is cut in the periphery of the cap G oi' tube F, as seenin Figs. 1 and 2, and this channel in certain positions of tube Fengages with a pin or catch, h, Figs. 1 and 3, which holds the tube Fsecurely in the stock.

The arm H of the tube' F has the cavity d' and groove e on its innerface. The groove receives the rounded end of a pin, d', which projectsthrough the metal strap I on the back of the stock, and is attached toand impelled outward by a spring, g, attached to that strap by screw f,in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

The groove guides the pin d into the recess d, where it holds the arm Hand prevents it from moving laterally while locked.

The plug P, which drives the cartridges forward, is rounded on its frontend, as shown, so that it comes in contact only with the central part ofthe rear end or basey of the cartridge. The. points of the balls alsoact on the same point of the cartridges against which they are held.

The operation is as follows: When the magazine is to be loaded the'innertube is unlocked and withdrawn from the stock. The cartridges are thendropped into the tube D, with the points toward the receiver, until therequisite number is introduced. The inner tube, F, is then inserted,and, by reason of the chamfer on the inner side, passes readily over thecartridges, the plug P being pressed back by them till it occupies theextreme rear of tube F. Tube F is then locked by turning the arm H untilthe groove c engages with catch h and the pin d' passes into recess d,when the armv is ready for use.

There are various advantages resulting from my method of constructionwhich are not secured, so far as I am aware, in any other breech-loadingrepeating-arm. Some of these I will now proceed to point out:

First. But for the chamfer on the inner side of tube F it would not passover the cartridges in tube D, and the magazine would have to be loadedby retracting the plug and dropping the cartridges into tube F, and theninserting that tube into the stock-a very inconvenient method, as by theslipping of the plug from the finger the cartridges are liable to bescattered and lost, or thrown into the outer tube prematurely, when theywould have to be taken out for a repetition of the operation.

Second. It has been objected to the use of self-exploding cartridgesthat there was great danger of their accidental explosion; but it willbe observed that the fulminate or explosive composition being placed inthe periphery of the ange of the cartridge, and not in the center, bythe rounded form of the plug I?, it canonly touch in the center of thebase of the cartridge, as shown in Fig. 1, and thus all danger ofexplosion by blows upon the butt is avoided. The plug, also, beingconstantly pressed up against the cartridges by the spring S, alljarring or jolting, which might cause explosion, is prevented.

Third. The security of the cartridge from accidental discharge by blowsfrom without the magazine-such as the striking of a ball, &c.-isobtained, rst, from the wood of the stock surrounding the magazine, and,second, from the double thickness of metal provided by the tubes D andF, the former of which may be as thick as may be thought desirable.

Fourth. In arms which have the magazine under the barrel the weightsupported by the hand is continually changing as the cartridges aredischarged, and the aim is consequently liable to be disturbed, owing tothe length of the leverage at which the changing weight opcrates. In thearm herein described this disadvantage is almost entirely obviated byreason of the nearness of the weight to the shoulder.

Fifth. In arms of the former class, when they are carried by cavalrywith the muzzle downward, the cartridges rest upon the spring, and bythe jolting resulting from the movements of the horse are liable to bedestroyed. In my ar1n,'on the contrary, when carried in the ysameposition,`the cartridges rest upon a solid support, and the springpresses them down upon it, and no such liability exists.

Sixth. The reserve cartridges are much more efiectually cut off from thedanger of being ignited by the Hash of the discharged cartridge, in casethere should be any leakage of gas, inasmuch as they are separated fromthe chamber of the gun where the discharge occurs by the entirethickness of the compound breech and by the length of the ball. They arealso free from any danger arising from the heating of the barrel byrepeated rapid discharges.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The compound magazine inserted in the stock oi' the piece, andconsisting of two metallic tubes, constructed and operatingsubstantially in the manner described.

2. In a double-tube magazine, chamfering the inner side of the forwardend of the inner tube, F, in the manner and for the purpose described.

3. The arrangement of the groove c and catch h for conjoint operation,as specified.

4. The combination and arrangement of the cap G, arm H, recess d, andpin d', substantially in the manner described.

5. The combination of the receiver B, tube D, nut E, and stock A, in themanner and for the purpose set forth.

The above specification of my said invention signed and witnessed atBoston this 27th day of April, A. D. 1864.

CHRISTOPHERl M. SPENCER.

Witnesses:

GHAUNCEY SMITH, H. FARNAM SMITH.

